Leigh

“Tsss— ow! Take it easy, would you!?” I hissed, sucking in air between my teeth as stormy grey eyes narrowed up at me slightly. Vaughn straightened up, his expression looking displeased as he pulled the alcohol coated cotton swab away.

“Leigh, you’ve been complaining for the past 10 minutes. I need to clean all your cuts, do you want an infection?”

“Ugh.” I groaned, rubbing my sore arms through the soft fabric of my hoodie. I knew very well that I was being a total brat, and that Vaughn really was only looking out for me. I knew that, but still, him catching me in a brawl at school made me feel like shit. That look of utter disappointment on his face, a part of me didn’t want to admit it... but that seriously bothered me. I stared vexingly at the scrapes on my hands, almost sure that they would scar.

“....Fine, but not so rough! Aren’t therapists supposed to be a bit more tactful and loving?”

The other merely took my hand, dabbing the drenched cotton onto the broken skin of my knuckles. I hissed at the stinging sensation that followed and squeezed my eyes shut as Vaughn replied.

“Think of it as tough love.” Suddenly, in that instant my chin was tilted upwards to face him. My eyes shot open in surprise at the hand lightly holding my cheek, my body tensing up a bit in confusion.

“You wouldn’t be feeling this pain if you hadn’t been fist-fighting.” He uttered scathingly, his eyes locked with mine. Damn, he looks pissed! I couldn’t think for that moment, attempting to feebly part my lips to ask what the hell he was doing. However, it was then that the wet sensation of alcohol met my cheek. The familiar burning from earlier soon registered and I cried out in pain.

“Jesus— fuck! Do it more gently!” I winced, momentarily stupefied by the level of whininess in my tone.

17 years of age be damned, this will never not sting like a bitch.

“Whoa, so what are we doing gently in here?” An amused female voice asked, followed by a now redundant knock on the door. My heart leapt into my throat for a second and I quickly leaned away from the other's face, recoiling into my own personal bubble. Vaughn seemed ticked off by the action as he tossed the cotton to the side in defeat. I breathed a sigh of relief when I realized it was just Zoe, feeling quite stupid for freezing up as the cheery woman entered with a laugh.

“Zoe, please talk some sense into this boy! I want to tend to him properly but he keeps complaining that it’s painful.”

“Oh?” The brown-skinned woman uttered in a weirdly sultry tone.

I scowled and averted my gaze shamefully as he gestured to the cotton-ball and continued in exasperation. “I’m just barely using the tip of it and yet he still won't let me finish!”

“Ohh?”

“Quit that. Stop implying things out of context.”

“....You’re no fun.” She pouted, her curly brown hair bouncing in place as she walked over to the sofa and crouched in front of me.

“Y’know I was really worried when you walked in here all banged up-“ The woman exclaimed sincerely and reached over to the coffee table, grabbing a sheet of paper and pushing it into my hands, “-but could you tell me what you see there?”

I made sure to give her a face so that she knew that I knew she was nuts. What did this have to do with anything that was going on? Regardless, I began glancing at the sheet to humor her, honestly puzzled. It was one of those mysterious ink blot images that you’d often see therapists use in movies and t.v shows, though this must've been some next level test. It used all kinds of colors and shapes to produce a clusterfuck of abstract patterns, though I guess art is subjective and whatnot so who am I to judge? I just squinted at the weird amalgamation of ink, trying my best to decipher some kind of picture.

“Um... I don’t know, I think it looks like a— AGH!” I winced as a twinge in my cheek alerted me of the cotton swab leaving my peripherals.

“Hey!” I shouted, though just when I opened my mouth, a sweetness bloomed on my tongue as Zoe popped a piece of candy in. This gave me pause as I brought a finger to my lips, verifying the flavor as the same kind that Vaughn kept in his office.

“That’s how you do it, ya goof. Seems like I’m better suited to taking care of patients.” Zoe declared matter-of-factly before shuffling through the first aid kit and pulling out a band-aid. She then peeled it off and laid it gently across the scrape, planting a small kiss on the exact spot on my cheek. I couldn’t help but blush slightly at her actions, deciding to silently chew the candy instead of protesting like I wanted to. On one hand, I felt like she treated me like a 5 year old, but on the other hand... call me shallow, but she was so pretty and had such a motherly aura that I didn’t care much. She's sort of like that one auntie that you see sometimes on holidays that always brings treats with her and gives the warmest hugs. 

I then dared a glance over at the sourpuss across from her. The taller male was scowling at his loss, clicking his tongue in annoyance as Zoe teased him. Then I chuckled, and much to my astonishment, the two of them followed suit. All of a sudden, the atmosphere felt a lot more merry and inviting, not at all like a typical therapist’s office.

Y’know.... having people dote on you every so often isn’t so bad.